• twenty-second letter of the Latin alphabet, seventeenth consonant
  • phonetic name: "voiced labiodental fricative"; place your top teeth on your bottom lip, vocalize and release (n.b. V engages the vocal chord, F does not)
  • like U, Egyptian hieroglyphs was a snake/dragon (Cerastes)
  • like U, Proto-Sinaitic letter for U, V & W was waw, all derived from the letter F
  • like U, Greeks adopted it as their letter upsilon (uppercase Υ, lowercase υ), pronounced yoo-psil-on, and meaning "naked U"
  • in Roman, 'V' represents 5; on monuments, U was often an abbreviation of urbs (city), usus (used/usage) or uxor (woman)
  • 'V' as 5 is derived from the convention of counting by notches carved in wood, with every fifth notch cut to form a V shape
  • Julius Caesar is known for his post-battle message "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
  • U and V were indistinguishable until the 18th century, when V officially became a consonant
  • V is not used very frequently in English, but appears frequently in the Spanish language (where it is pronounced as B)
  • associated with purpose, immersion, advancement
  • V is dynamic and positive; conveying spreading of arms, wings, expressing vitality, joy and freedom (found in positive words like vivacious, vivid)
  • V's sound is soft, caressing and sensual, but also fast and trembling (like the wind)
  • V (like U) evokes the idea of a container by its form, and is also shown in words like vase, vessel, vial, vat, ventricle
  • V has always been associated with the feminine (vagina, vulva) and V recalls the Sumerian ideogram for "woman" (a triangle on point)
  • V is the first letter of the goddess of love and beauty (Venus), and central to the name Eve
  • clock and watch hands are often set at 10:10 (making a V shape), which is considered positive (like a check mark)
  • in WWII, V was a symbol for Victory for the allies; V can be formed with the index and middle finger, meaning "peace" (attributed to Winston Churchill)
  • V can be formed by two arms in the air, indicating that help is needed
  • in music, V indicates passages to be played by violin, or volti (turn); VS means volti subito (turn quickly)
  • in geometry, V stands for volume
  • in electricity, V is voltage or volt, electric potential difference in a circuit, or its unit of measurement
  • in grammar, V is verb
  • in radio, V band ranges from 50 to 75 GHz
  • v. or vs. abbreviated "versus"
  • geese are known to fly in a V-shape when migrating, and is considered to be aerodynamically efficient; V formations are also used on military flight missions
  • the V8 car engine originated in the 1915 Cadillac, with its two rows of four cylinders
  • V8 is a canned beverage containing 8 vegetables: tomatoes, beets, celery, carrots, lettuce, parsley, watercress, and spinach
  • V (like T and U) is often used to describe the shape of objects: V-block, V-bottom, V-cut, V hut, V-neck, V-antenna, V-beam, V belt, V bob, V roof, V-hook, V moth, V notch, V particle, V-type engine, V-pug, V stern, V tail, V thread, V tool, V vat, V chip etc.
  • V is the chemical symbol for vanadium (#92 on the periodic table), a greyish silvery metal, and is most often used as an additive to improve steels
  • NATO phonetic alphabet: VICTOR
  • "'V' is the vase." -Victor Hugo, French poet & playwright
  • "The sound vibration of the consonant 'V' means 'descending light'." - Joseph E. Rael
  • "Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V." - from V for Vendetta, film based on the dystopian comic book series by Alan Moore
  • V can also abbreviate Vatican City, verb, verse, version, verso, very, victory, volume, voice